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Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Ind. Courts - Cost of death penalty trial factored into Pike County decision

Jimmy Nesbitt of the Evansville Courier& Press reports today:

By the time it's finished, the death penalty trial of accused killer Nicholas Harbison could cost Pike County hundreds of thousands of dollars.

For a rural county with a population around 13,000, the expense can be a huge burden. In some states, such as Texas, death penalty cases have bankrupted small county governments. * * *

Cost was a factor in the decision to pursue the death penalty against Harbison, 23, charged with three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder, said Darrin McDonald, Pike County chief deputy prosecutor.

But ultimately the wishes of the victims' families, who have repeatedly voiced their support for the death penalty, weighed heavier, he said.

"On something that is extreme as anything that you can ever imagine, I just figured that you can't weigh humans' lives, especially 17-, 18-, 20-year-olds," McDonald said. "But really, any human life - you can't evaluate that in terms of cost." * * *

Harbison has two attorneys, Steven Ripstra and Nathan Verkamp. Both are court-appointed public defenders.

Ripstra has requested a change of venue and discussed hiring a mitigation expert and private investigator, whose services can run more than $100 an hour.

To pay for those expenses, McDonald will likely seek aid from the Indiana Public Defender Commission.

The commission was created in 1989 to help small counties pay for death penalty cases. It has an annual fund of around $10 million that is used to reimburse counties for both capital and noncapital cases, said Larry Landis, executive director of the Indiana Public Defender Council.

Counties can be reimbursed for up to 50 percent of expenses associated with a death penalty case. To be eligible, a defendant must have two attorneys and the support services during the trial must comply with state standards.

"One case can cost $500,000," Landis said. "For a small county that's an enormous expenditure."

Since 1976, 17 people have been executed in Indiana, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

Currently, there 37 people on Indiana's death row. Pike County's last death penalty case was in 1981. * * *

"If cost is the issue, when, if ever, would you support the death penalty or pursue it in Pike County?" said McDonald, who reviewed the Dillon case before deciding to seek the death penalty against Harbison.

"And if you look at cost as being a determinative issue, you might as well hang a banner at the end of the county when you drive into Pike County that says we're not going to pursue the death penalty no matter who it is ... (because) we just don't have the money. It just doesn't seem like it should fall out that way."

Posted by Marcia Oddi on October 17, 2006 08:43 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts